Shadow of the Beautiful World

Early the next morning, Merlin arrived at the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters building in downtown New York as scheduled.

The specific location of this building is kept secret, and from the outside, it doesn't look like a secret institution at all, but it looks like more and more high-rise office buildings nowadays.

As far as Merlin knew, there were three office buildings like this in New York City alone, and each building was responsible for handling different affairs.

Fury has always wanted to find a place around New York to build a real headquarters belonging to S.H.I.E.L.D., but it was difficult.

Not to mention the funds needed to build the new headquarters, just because of the secret nature of the work, it will be difficult for Fury's proposal to be passed by Congress.

But when time entered 1995, things changed.

Under Pierce's proposal, S.H.I.E.L.D. was transformed from a national defense organization into an operational and logistical organization under the World Security Council.

That is to say, the institution where Merlin works began to turn from the shadows to the front.

Secret work has become one but not all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new mission. Isn't it normal for a seemingly newly established large international organization to have its own office building in bustling New York City?

According to the gossip that Merlin heard recently, Fury's proposal for the new headquarters has already begun to be discussed in Congress, and it is said that the possibility of passing it is very high.

It is said that Fury has already named the new headquarters building that has not yet been shadowed.

He was going to call it the Trident Building.

Well, this is in line with Fury's naming style, which is slightly secondary.

Of course, Merlin didn't care about these things. It has been 3 years since he joined S.H.I.E.L.D., but his time working in the office building is almost a handful.

From the day Merlin became an agent, he seemed to be outside the main structure of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fury needs Merlin to handle some sudden supernatural phenomena for him, and supernatural phenomena are well known to be mysterious, and these affairs that cannot be known by ordinary people need to be kept secret, even Merlin's name is sealed in those secret files.

Many staff members don't even know that there is such a person in the upper echelon of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Those who really knew of Merlin's existence were all very interested in this mysterious level 5 agent.

You know, the most senior agent in S.H.I.E.L.D., that is, Nick Fury himself, is only a level 6 agent.

Merlin in a gray suit was carrying a handbag and rimless glasses, dressed like a young and promising senior salesman.

He walked into an elevator unobtrusively. The moment the elevator closed, he took out his ID card and swiped it in a hidden groove in the elevator. A small green light lit up on the elevator panel, and Merlin's fingers pressed 6 times rhythmically.

kuang

With a soft sound, the elevator that was ascending slowly accelerated immediately. After 40 seconds, Merlin arrived at the 34th floor of this building, almost approaching the top floor.

Ding

With a soft bang, the elevator door opened.

A busy work scene appeared before Merlin's eyes.

Men and women in black uniforms were busy at their workstations. They walked around with documents in their hands, or kept typing on the keyboard with their ten fingers.

In the meeting rooms on both sides of the corridor, there are ongoing meetings. On the large TV hanging on the wall, there is a world map marked with many red dots, which seems to represent what is happening around the world at this time.

The morning sunlight shines into the large office area along the high-rise glass, echoing a busy scene.

To be honest, Merlin's first impression here is that it doesn't look like a secret organization, but rather like a busy business company.

Merlin stretched out his hand to push his glasses, put his left hand in his trouser pocket, and carried the handbag in his right hand, walking towards the interior of the office.

The sudden appearance of this strange little brother naturally attracted the attention of these internal affairs agents. Where Merlin walked, many people were staring at him. There is also a more vigilant guy who has already picked up the phone. But just as the agent was about to make a call, he was pressed on the phone with both hands.

Sir Merlin.

A voice sounded behind Merlin. The bald-headed internal affairs agent Japas Sitwell shook his finger at the vigilant agent, then straightened his clothes and walked quickly towards Merlin.

The latter turned his head and glanced at him, a smile appeared on his calm face.

Long time no see, Sitwell.

Well, indeed.

Hitwell also had a reunion smile on his face. He made a please gesture to Merlin and whispered:

I seldom see you here, sir. Come with me, your office is in front.

Hitterwell gestured to the others to get on with their work. Then he led Merlin towards the quieter high-level office area.

Merlin noticed that the nameplate on Hitwell's chest had changed, and he said:

Are you a level 2 agent now?

Yes, just promoted a month ago.

hitwell said:

Thanks to you, after participating in the operation to bring down Kohler, I was rewarded within the organization and then promoted. Of course, I am far behind you, sir.

You can't say that.

Merlin shrugged, and he said to Sitwell:

Although I seldom come here, I also know that internal agents are promoted more slowly than field agents. You can be promoted so quickly, which shows your ability. Speaking of which, Sitwell, I still lack an assistant. Do you want to transfer to a field agent again? I think you are also suitable to run around the world with me.

Uh, forget it.

Although he knew that Merlin was joking, Sitwell still touched his bald head subconsciously. It seems that the last half-devil incident caused a considerable psychological shadow on him.

After walking for a few minutes, he brought Merlin to an office by the window. The name of Merlin Riley was marked on the door of that office, and the title was Special Operations Director.

Hitwell turned around and said to Merlin:

This is your office, sir. It was there a long time ago, but you haven't been here. It's been lying around, but don't worry, we have someone who cleans it twice a week, so it's clean, and it's as good as the new one. Same.

Merlin nodded, took out his ID card, swiped lightly on the door lock, and the office door swung open.

By the way, sir, I have received a message from the director. Your assistant will come to your office to find you in a while.

Hitwell looked at his watch and reminded:

In about 15 minutes.

Well, yes, that's why I'm here today.

Merlin walked into the office and said without looking back:

Go and do your work, Sitwell, I may leave this afternoon. Seriously, the atmosphere here is really depressing.

While complaining, he put the handbag in the desk drawer.

Merlin reached out to open the black computer in front of him, and there was a blocked interface on the screen, requiring Merlin to enter his ID and password. This thing was allotted to him when he joined the job, but in these three years, except for the period when he was sitting in the office in the European branch, Merlin rarely used it.

It is now 1995, and a new generation of personal computers has begun to spread slowly. The latest computer in front of me is more advanced than the one used by Merlin in the European branch.

He opened the mailbox first. Earlier today, Agent Hill had sent him a revised assessment report of the Emperor Organization.

Merlin clicked on the report, and took a glass of cold water from the water dispenser next to him. While drinking the water, he began to browse through the magically reformed evaluation report.

Just like Fury reminded, this evaluation report, which was originally full of dry stuff, full of secrets, and covered specific photos, was revised into a large, general, specious article.

In the report written by Hill himself, there is only a hint of secret in key positions. This document guides ordinary people to ignore the real truth by exaggerating some external facts about the emperor's organization and plans, as well as some outdated confidential information. core elements.

All the information about Raton, Kong, and Skull Island never appeared on the document.

Godzilla is known to many people for his recent confrontation with the Kree's dismantling beam, so this mysterious monster cannot be simply ignored.

Hill simply posted the truth about the USS Lawton incident during World War II and the Bikini Atoll nuclear bomb test in 1954 to prove the existence of Godzilla, and used lengthy speeches to convince those security representatives that, The Emperor Organization has always mastered the laws of Godzilla's activities.

Anyway, it took Merlin 10 minutes to read the report, and he found the thing to be perfect.

Agent Hill's writing skills were far superior to Merlin's. In one night, she perfectly completed the new report requirements of Fury and Merlin.

After Merlin finished reading it, he felt that there was nothing he needed to revise or make suggestions.

So he thought about it for a while, and wrote back a letter to Hill, with only four simple words on it:

Great! Come on!

And just as Merlin finished writing the email, a rhythmic knock on the door sounded in the office.

Come in!

Merlin leaned back on the office chair and yelled softly.

The next moment, a familiar face appeared in front of his eyes.

Phil Coulson, who was wearing a black suit, was holding a document bag in his hand, and walked into the office a little nervously. When he saw Merlin sitting on the office chair, this young man with a high hairline Just froze in place.

Merlin was also stunned.

He didn't expect that the new partner Fury gave him was actually Phil.

It turned out to be his former brother.

Since the Kree incident ended, Merlin has been deliberately keeping a distance from Phil. He is worried that the dangerous work he is doing now will involve Phil.

He also intends to find an opportunity to give Fury a suggestion to arrange Phil into the internal affairs system, just like Sitwell, to do some logistics and management affairs. But I didn't expect that Phil would continue to choose the future of field agent and operation expert.

This made Merlin a little angry and a little scared. Is this a coincidence, or did Fury discover the potential relationship between him and Phil?

Logically speaking, it wouldn't be. He obviously hid it very well, and never revealed the existence of the Coulson family to anyone.

But Merlin is not easy to get angry now, let alone reject his new assistant face to face.

Because, behind Phil, there is a newcomer.

It was a female, young woman, with black hair, about 1.70 tall. There are obvious oriental traces in the outline of the cheeks, short hair, wearing a black uniform like Phil, and looks very capable.

But that pair of smart eyes represented that this was a very thoughtful newcomer.

Like Phil, she held a document bag in her hand and looked at her new boss with a hint of curiosity.

Aren't you going to introduce yourself?

Merlin held a pen in his hand and tapped lightly on the table. Behind the glasses, his eyes became sharp, looking at the two young men in front of him like an interviewer.

He acted like he didn't know Phil at all.

But Phil didn't panic. He glanced at the lady beside him. These two people should be friends from the Secret Service Academy. The lady nodded to Phil, as if encouraging him.

Phil took a deep breath, put the document bag in his hand on Merlin's desk, then took a step back, and began to introduce himself.

Hi, Sir Merlin, my name is Philip J. Coulson. I am from

On the surface, Merlin listened carefully to Phil's self-introduction, but in fact, he kept thinking about Phil's fate in his heart.

As one of the few Level 5 agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., he certainly has the right to refuse Phil's entry, and he is also somewhat sure that he can persuade Fury to transfer Phil to a civilian position.

But there are risks in doing so, and it will make Fury doubt his intentions. Merlin is very clear about how shrewd and difficult to deceive a soul is hidden under Fury's appearance.

Secondly, based on his understanding of Phil's character, even if he fired him, Phil would still find a way to continue to be a field agent. He has a stubborn personality since he was a child, hidden under the appearance of always smiling.

People, that's it, the more you deny a person, the more he tries to prove himself.

So instead of letting Phil follow other field agents, it's better to take him by his side.

In this way, whether it is protection or training, it is much more convenient.

Merlin's eyes changed at this moment, he seemed to have made up his mind.

He reached out and knocked on the table, interrupting Phil's self-introduction. He raised his head, looked at Phil, and said briefly:

Okay. You are welcome to join my special agent team, Phil Coulson.

Now, please tell me your name from the lady next to you?

The girl sitting on the side probably didn't expect that Merlin would ask her so directly. The expression on her face was slightly surprised, but soon she stood up immediately and replied in a calm and clear voice: :

Sir, my name is Mei, Melinda May.

Well, tell me about your own experience.

Merlin picked up Melinda's file while listening to her introduce herself.

But he only looked down, and his eyes suddenly changed. On Melinda's file, in the referee field, there was a name he knew well.

Peggy Carter!

This girl, like him and Fury, was personally recommended by Ms. Carter!

This made Merlin even more curious, what kind of background and identity is hidden behind this young and lively girl in front of her?